Innerspace Review

A classic movie directed by Steven Spielberg from the 80s. Innerspace is the story about a pilot that goes on a mission to be miniturized and injected into a bunny rabbit. However, things get dicey, and instead of being injected into a rabbit, the pilot (played by Dennis Quaid) is injected into a character played by Martin Short. Although this movie is classified as a comedy, I didn't find it that funny. Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan both play in this movie, and I thought that Martin Short did the physical comedy parts very well. However, it almost appeared that this movie's target audience may have been under my age. It is cute and relies on a lot of physically comedic scenarios to try to keep the laughs coming, and I found it OK - but not great as far a comedies go. I think my favorite Martin Short comedy still has to be "The Three Amigos". I believe that movie came out in the 80s as well. Of course one reason I may consider "The Three Amigos" a better movie was that my first watching of it was when I was quite a bit younger. Some movies leave a lasting good impression on you when you are young, but don't seem as impressive when you rewatch them several years later. 1 thumb up.

Conspiracy Theory review

I caught this movie on TV a few weeks ago, and actually was able to watch the whole thing through finally. I know my siblings have enjoyed this movie, but I had never gotten around to actually watching it. I liked this movie about Mel Gibson being a paranoid oddball who loves Julia Roberts character and confides in her what his theories are. The acting is well-done, and the movie has bits of humor sprinkled throughout with intense action scenes to make a pretty well-balanced movie to watch. One unique thing about this movie that I have to add, is that it actually motivated me to find out more about the classic book "The Catcher and the Rye". This book has a significant part in the movie, and made me want to find out more about the plot that surrounded it. Movies that actually pique your curiousity in reading the classics don't come around all the time - so that caused my evaluation of this movie to be a little higher than average. Good suspense, decent comedy parts, and an intriguing story make for a good movie in my opinion. 1.5 thumbs out of 2.

Lars and the Real Girl review

This is one of those quirky yet recommended movies that came out recently. I had heard some good things about the overall message and added it to my Netflix queue. I'm sorry to say I could not finish the movie. The message may be really good in the ending, yet I just couldn't bring myself to finish it in this slow-moving drama about a man who basically treats a life-size doll as his best friend. I think the acting was pretty well done, I just struggled to relate and stay drawn into the storyline due to the oddity of the whole plot. Sorry Lars, I lost my patience with you. As I watched Lars take his doll to the doctor, and to get a haircut, as well as to a holiday party, my mind began pondering the 1.5 hours I will never regain as I sat watching this movie. Not a very fast-moving or typical movie, yet if you have the patience, you may find it very rewarding. I didn't have the patience so therefore I give "Lars and the Real Girl", 1/2 thumb up out of two. Sorry Lars, I never did find out if he ended up going out with a real girl. Oh well.

Escape From Alcatraz

A classic Clint Eastwood prison movie. I just watched this movie and grew very fascinated with the Alcatraz prison as a result. I thought the acting performances were top-notch (what more can you ask from Clint Eastwood?) and the story was compelling enough to really draw you in. Basically Clint Eastwood plays a character that was sent to the Alcatraz prison due to poor behavior at other prisons. Alcatraz was known for being a maximum security prison with little hope of ever escaping successfully. Clint Eastwood plays the cool and collected prison inmate who won't let other prisoners take advantage of him, yet earns the respect of many within the prison. He slowly forms a plan to escape and I'll leave the rest for you to watch. Overall I thought this was a very well done prison movie, that kept me engaged, made me curious about other Alcatraz movies (there were many made in Hollywood), and wrapped up the story in a well-done way. Another thing I liked about this movie was that it seemed to show the poor conditions and sad states of prisons without becoming overly depressing and dark. I felt the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" was a little too dark and depressing. "Escape from Alcatraz" seems to avoid that problem while still giving you a feeling of realism from a maximum security prison movie. Two thumbs up in my opinion.